It has been one of sailing’s less well-kept secrets, but yesterday it was confirmed that Britain – fresh from its biggest success at the event in 90 years – will once again take part in the next America’s Cup.

As the victorious Emirates Team New Zealand team began their media rounds, Chief Operating Officer Kevin Shoebridge confirmed the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron had accepted a challenge.

“We accepted a challenge this afternoon, but we’ll leave that for a separate announcement,” he initially said.

But shortly afterwards, INEOS Britannia skipper and team principal Ben Ainslie confirmed that the Royal Yacht Squadron had indeed competed for the 38th America’s Cup in Cowes and their challenge had been accepted. The British are now Challenger of Record for the second time in a row.

Grant Dalton congratulates INEOS Britannia supporter Sir Jim Ratcliffe on winning the Louis Vuitton Cup final. Both teams’ yacht clubs, RNZYS and RYS, will be represented at the 38th America’s Cup. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

“Yes, well, the Royal Yacht Squadron has once again come forward as record challengers to the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron,” he told the waiting press.

“We had a great partnership in this last cup. I think you’ve seen it with the protocol – this time it’s such an advanced protocol, especially with the Women’s America’s Cup.

“And we can do so much more with the event. I think it was a great success, but the America’s Cup has much more potential. Now it’s up to us to work with the Kiwis and, as defenders, help them promote this.”

Bertie Bicket, Chairman of Royal Yacht Squadron Racing, is interviewed as the Royal Yacht Squadron is confirmed as Challenger of Record for the 38th America’s Cup. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

Venue of the 38th America’s Cup?

As always, due to the unique structure of the America’s Cup, there are many questions about what the future of the event might look like.

While the decision-makers are all based in Barcelona, ​​the question of the venue is one of the most pressing.

The Spanish city provided a real spectacle for the America’s Cup final, with phenomenal crowds – including a truly impressive number of black-clad Emirates Team New Zealand fans – lining Port Vell, while yesterday a fleet of superyachts gathered half a dozen in brilliant sunshine sailed deep to create an event finale that will be remembered for a long time.

Superyachts and spectator boats accompany Emirates Team New Zealand, winners of the 37th America’s Cup, back to Barcelona harbor. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

The Barcelona location has also served well, with team bases around the port and extensive superyacht infrastructure (and Palma is just a stone’s throw away). Several event villages on land – all freely accessible – ensured a real sporting atmosphere, and the Mediterranean climate and promenade tradition guaranteed good visitor frequency. However, there were also protests against the event’s presence in the city, part of a wider dissatisfaction with Barcelona’s very high tourism numbers.

The acknowledged drawbacks of Barcelona as a venue – notably the light, unpredictable winds at the end of the season, combined with difficult seas – did not prove to be as problematic as expected.

The crowd support at the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona was impressive. Photo: Ana Ponce / America’s Cup

The changes to the AC75 rules, designed to ensure boats could get out of the way in lighter breezes, resulted in significantly fewer races being decided by boats crawling along in painful displacement mode than in AC36. On most days of competition, the breeze was actually stronger than the worst-case scenarios modeled by the team’s meteorologists.

There is certainly no confirmation that it will be Barcelona again – although there are many positive comments about the venue.

When asked if Barcelona would play a role in the future of the event, Kevin Shoebridge said: “As a venue? I hope so, but there are no decisions at this point. Hopefully in the next week or two we will provide a timeline for when such decisions will be made.”

Defending champions Emirates Team New Zealand would not immediately know whether the event would return to Barcelona for the 38th America’s Cup. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

Possible additional venues for AC38?

Other venues being rumored include Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. This would be a fundamental change in the tone of the event, but would likely come with significant financial support for the event.

And of course, the defenders could choose to take it home.

Auckland, home of the 36th America’s Cup, still has the infrastructure to support a return of the Cup, although it is unlikely the team will generate the same level of funding that the notoriously frugal Kiwi team needed for one would require a fourth successful campaign.

But one thing stood out in Barcelona this autumn: the narrative from outside New Zealand in recent years may have been that public support for the America’s Cup at home had waned due to problems with the bigger picture. The global cost of living crisis makes raising public funds for a multi-millionaire yacht race a challenge in any country, but particularly in a country as small as New Zealand.

Port Vell in Barcelona, ​​home of the 37th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

But even the shortest walk through Barcelona revealed the passion and commitment of thousands of New Zealand fans who traveled tens of thousands of miles to support their team. Perhaps there is pressure to honor that loyalty and commitment with a home event – a preliminary round, if not the cup game itself?

As for the timeline, Emirates Team New Zealand team boss Grant Dalton has given strong hints that he would like a quick turnaround for the next Cup – telling New Zealand outlet Stuff back in September that he “may, very likely, could foresee, a new edition of the cup in 2026.” The timing would also depend on which hemisphere the cup will take place in.

Boat or crew change for the 38th America’s Cup?

There is widespread agreement that the AC75 will remain as a class for the future Cup (although, as with all elements of the America’s Cup, anything can theoretically be subject to renegotiation. The Cup is certainly no stranger to legal disputes).

It is definitely too early to speculate whether this would likely represent a refinement or a more comprehensive overall design of the AC75 rule. But there were some interesting hints from key players in both the defender and the challenger of records.

When asked about the evolution of the class, INEOS Britannia skipper Ben Ainslie said at the press conference ahead of the America’s Cup match: “The technical development of these AC75 yachts and the automation of the way the yachts are sailed is really interesting .” And at what point does automation become too much and the human interface is no longer as relevant as it should be?

“I think we’re probably getting close to that limit, but it’s been a fascinating development.”

Emirates Team New Zealand chief designer Dan Bernasconi, who will play a key role in any rule change, also said yesterday: “We don’t want to make changes that make the existing boats obsolete.”

“We could probably take another look at the crew configuration. and look again at the rules on how the controls work.

“There’s a lot of automation on these boats. In some ways, this means there is less need for so many sailors to take on sailing roles. Personally, I would like to remove some of this automation and would need more sailors to actually steer the boat.”

Emirates Team New Zealand chief designer Dan Bernasconi speaks after the team won the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

Future of women in the America’s Cup?

Therefore, there may be a desire to remove some of the automation from the AC75, perhaps increase the number of sailors on the boat and build on the momentum of the Women’s and Youth America’s Cups.

If this is the case, then would a possible route be to create an additional “sailor” role that would be designated as a female (and/or youth) crew position within the America’s Cup crews?

“With these boats there is no reason not to have women on board,” Stephane Kandler, CEO of Orient Express Team France, told me yesterday.

“And if we could bring more sailors on board, we would definitely have to have women on board too.

“We talked about it as challengers. And I think everyone is pretty excited about it, which is a big change.”

The first ever Puig Women’s America’s Cup was widely hailed as a success, with the all-female teams using matching AC40s. But is there an opportunity to see women aboard the AC75 in the 38th America’s Cup? Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

A possible solution would be to replace one of the “Cyclor” positions and use more stored energy. “In reality, you don’t really need (the cyclists). If you want, you can at least get two women on board. I think that would be great,” Kandler added.

Bruno Dubois, co-CEO of Orient Express Team France, echoed this opinion, saying: “I really hope that some rules will come into force for this: on the 75 for women and young people.” But for young people who are probably older than If you’re 25, I’d say under 30 like the Ocean Race would be better.”

However, in the interview linked above, Dalton said, “We would never sign a woman on the boat (AC75).”

Orient Express Racing Team’s Stephan Kandler is among those who believe a female position in the AC75 would be a positive step. Photo: Ian Roman

In the next issue of Yachting World magazine we will take a detailed look at the 37th America’s Cup and the future of the 38th and follow for all ours Coverage of the America’s Cup 2024.